COURAGE

07.22.1310:34 AM ET

11-Year-Old Yemeni Bride Speaks Out

“I am not an item for sale … I would rather die than get married at this age.”

One 11-year-old Yemeni girl’s courageous video describing why she fled an arranged marriage has gone viral—and drawn attention to the terrifying reality children face all over the world. “I am not an item for sale,” Nada Al-Ahdal boldly declares in the video. “I’m a human being and I’d rather die than get married at this age.” Al-Ahdal fled to her uncle’s after her parents arranged a marriage for her, even though she says her parents threatened to kill her. “I’ve decided that I have two choices: to leave or to die. So I choose the first. I would have no life, no education.” Al-Ahdal also makes a plea for child brides everywhere, saying the practice “is not normal for innocent children.” “They have killed our dreams, they have killed everything inside us,” she says.